Tiger to Play Hero World Challenge

We’ve heard this before. Woods had committed to play in last month’s Safeway Open but pulled out just days before the tournament began. But the Hero World Challenge could not be safer ground: Woods’ own foundation runs the tournament, and the field will include just 18 of the world’s finest golfers … all of whom owe Woods a debt they could never repay. (Not that they’ll take it easy on him.) Woods has won the event five times, and used it as a return from injury in 2014 as well.

“My game is coming, it’s getting there,” Woods told Stephen Colbert late in October. “I’m not quite there where I feel like I can shoot 63s and -4s in tournaments. I’m shooting low rounds at home, but I just don’t feel it’s quite ready to shoot those types of scores under tournament conditions.”

Woods has 79 PGA Tour wins, just three behind Sam Snead for the all-time record. While his chances of catching Jack Nicklaus’ major total, still four wins ahead of Woods, seem distant, racking up a few PGA Tour victories isn’t quite as outlandish a proposition. We’ll know more about the state of Woods’ game in a month … one way or another.